Rise of the Saiyan God: Shrouded in Time
by Bakuda
Summary: Third Installment of 'Rise of the Saiyan God'. Tails is alone again, Bakuda and Shadow are dead. Dakuba and Dusk along with them. With his old Team, he is once again forced to solve a mystery caused by the Chaos Emeralds. Not a Self-Insert.
1. Chapter 1 A Shadows Shade

Disclaimer: I do not own the following: Sonic the hedgehog, Dragonball Z, Tekken Prince of Persia (the Dagger of time), Batman (the Shadowfox looks like the Bat-Mobil), Pokémon (Lugia's ocarina), He-Man, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City; (I will add more when the time comes.)

Claimer: Bakuda, Dakuba, Dawn, Aura, Tara, Karnak, Adam and 'The Universal Gods', Creculo the hedgefox and Twilight the hedgefox I own. Bakuda was a 'spur-of-the-moment' name a friend and I created for an online game in 1999. I used the name for every game/story character ever since. If you spot anything that may be discreetly connected to another Anime/book/TV show, ECT, it is purely coincidence and not intentional.

* * *

_I buried both hope and the night today._

_Yet somehow, they were with me when I walked away from the gravesite._

_Bakuda promised he'd always be there,_

_Now I know what he meant._

_Tails' Diary Entry: A Shadow's Shade_

* * *

Tails looked over the two large holes in the farthest part of the back yard, small tears continuously falling down his face. The two bodies he was to bury were deep within, their hands lying over their chests and in Bakuda's case, a small smile on the face.

The young fox picked up the shovel again and began placing the dirt he had dug for the graves, back into the holes. But before he could make more than two shovelled, a gentle hand rested of Tails' shoulder; "Hey Tails, let me take over. You go get some rest." A blue hedgehog offered, wishing nothing more than to help his little buddy in his troubles. Yet the young fox shrugged the hand off silently and continued his work.

Covering the faces of the two brothers was hard enough on Tails, though he kept a mostly straight face all the way through. Right to the point where he placed two granite stones in the earth and half buried them for the gravestones.

Everyone that had been in the household had circled around the fox and the two graves he had made. Amy was comforting the young cream but was mostly crying herself. Ella was dressed in black, trying to make it seem like a normal funeral. Tanaka was staring at the graves, unblinking, giving an eerie sense about him. Sonic, after offering to take the shovel and been denied, had stepped back and just watched his friend cover up the bodies of his closest relatives. Chris was standing next Tanaka, both of them not saying a word, all speech leaving him as he looked into the closing graves.

Spraying the last piece of dirt onto the two graves, the fox dropped the spade at his own feet and walked silently back towards the house. No one stood in his way, parting for him. No one knew the extent of how the young fox was feeling due to themselves being nearly on the brink, though Tails had been the closest. They suspected it would have been a year gone and Tails would still have nightmare of his brothers leaving him.

Allowing the twin tailed fox to enter the house alone, Sonic stepped up the graves and bent down in front of them both, staring at the white rocks used to mark the sites;"I'm not sure who could have possibly done this but I'll find out. None of these three deserved this. Maybe Shadow if he went nuts, but not Bakuda and Tails. Remember when Bakuda and Tails were accused of Murder and ran halfway across the country?" he asked with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood up with old memories of the pair.

Ella chuckled slightly, wiping away the tears in her eyes with a sniffle; "Yes, though I would always remember the time both Tails and Bakuda made me a cake when I was ill that one day." She recounted, looking back on that day like it had happened a few hours ago.

Amy and Cream looked towards each other before both spoke up; "Shadow came here for a visit once and when some people tried to kidnap me, he teleported them to the other side of the world with a Chaos Control. He was trying to contain his anger back then." The young rabbit laughed softly. The pink hedgehog beside her agreeing with a nod, though didn't add anything in.

The butler spoke up, which he didn't often do unless he had to; "Bakuda Son taught me how to improve my martial Arts to a much higher level than I ever realised. He was my friend, ally and tutor. He refused to be called 'Master' on any count." He spoke calmly, though the slightest trickle of a tear had spread down his face.

Lastly, the young boy chose to speak. He had been the one that had been shedding more tears than almost everyone there, except for Tails of course, since he had a very close connection to the fox for a reason the others didn't; "He sacrificed his own life for mine. I died because of Metal God and Bakuda used himself to bring me back." He whispered, remembering how the young vulpine had come back as well only by the love of everyone's hearts he had touched, sending this almighty power through the Chaos Emeralds.

Each one of them placed a golden daffodil on the left hand grave and a red rose on the right. Sonic, who had not changed his stance since then, laid his right hand on Bakuda's grave softly; "I'll miss you 'O' Great Fireball'" he said with a small smile, addressing the old nickname he had given to Bakuda a long time ago.

No sooner did the hedgehog finished, did a single drop of water come onto his nose. Thunderclouds booming overhead. They had been so focused on the graves that they failed to notice that a thunderstorm was rolling in. With no more to say, Sonic turned away from the grave and guided everyone back to the house silently.

The blue hedgehog shook his head slightly as he let out a deep sigh, spotting the twin tailed fox lying down on the couch, though got up once everyone came inside; "Hey Tails, look, I know your quite upset now but I-" he started before Tails cut him off, the tears on his face having vanished though he still had the red veins from his crying.

"I'm not upset anymore Sonic." He stated calmly, though the smile on his face gave the sense he was relieved. Though seeing the confused and rather shocked expressions on everyone, he continued; "Bakuda and Shadow wouldn't want me moping over them so much, they'd want me to fight on. That's what I'm going to do." He explained, relaxing back on the couch again.

Chuck placed his hand on his side with an even more confused expression, though it quickly spilt into a grin; "Don't Worry, Be Happy?" he suggested, earning a few laughs from the people nearby. Even Tails let out a small chuckle.

"Yeah, I guess so Chuck. I suspect you want to hear what happened too. Well, it all started with the-" Tails began but was interrupted by something, his nose twitching; "Is something burning?"

This question was the result of the following: A cry of distress, a maid barrelling to the kitchen, a wail, a slamming noise and finally a sigh of relief. Only a few seconds of silence issued before Ella called into the room, a few seat drops on her forehead; "Dinner is ready everyone. I saved it." She announced to the group.

A speeding golden blur was all that was needed for everyone to know that Tails heard her and was also hungry, though, when was a Saiyan ever 'not' hungry?

The entire group wandered into the dining room to find Tails bowing his head over the table, his tails swinging from side to side to show his excitement. He had obviously missed Ella's cooking. Amy and Cream giggled playfully as they took their seats, Sonic jumping onto the one next to Tails instead of the usual seat he had next to Chris. Chuck forced to sit next to his nephew.

Tails raised his head and opened his eyes with a smile still implanted on his face; "Smells great Ella." He complimented as he reached forward, taking a drumstick from the turkey with ease. After biting into it, it rallied the rest to grab everything they could in case Tails at it all.

Sonic took hold of an apple and bit into it slowly, his mind not on the food at all. After swallowing, he turned his head towards Tails; "So, where were you the last six months? Last I saw you was at the Tournament. You roughed me up back then." He chuckled, remembering the match they had. He didn't think his 'little bro' had that much fighting talent.

The young fox jerked forward at the question, nearly coughing up half a turkey; "Wh-what?! I've been out for six months?!" he cried, his onyx black eyes wide in shock. His gaze then turned to his feet as he thought about what could have happened.

"Bakuda and Shadow died at the Tournament after it ended. Shadow sacrificed himself and I think Bakuda might have been caught in the blast. Amelia knocked me unconscious when I struggled to help Shadow. I was half asleep at the time anyway, so a single tap at the back of the neck did it. Some scientists took us while we were asleep and studied us, keeping us asleep for as long as possible. I came here as soon as I woke up." He explained, a feeling of dread coming over him. Though it was eased by his partner in science.

Chuck reached over and raised Tails chin, making his look in his eyes; "I'll give you a Check-Up in the morning to see if they did anything to you. But it doesn't look like they did." He hypothesised, sitting back down in his chair and continuing with their meal.

Sonic wasn't too happy about the way Bakuda and Shadow went out, though at least they went down fighting. Trying to change subjects, he looked at the food on the table, nearly all of it had been taken; "Heh, you eat a lot. Just like old times. Hey, did anyone hear that?" he asked. His ears flicking up and to the left, pointing towards the front door nearby.

A soft scratch and a whimper was coming from behind, sounding like a lost puppy.

In a blur of blue and a soft breeze echoing behind the hedgehog, Sonic was at the door and opened it calmly, though what came to his eyes caused him to jump back in alarm; "Whoa! Hey kid, you got a decent Tails costume but the fur colour is yellow, not black." He spoke; about to shut the door on whomever was there, though it was caught by the golden kitsune himself.

"Dawn?"

The shadow Godling of Joy wasn't so joyous. His fur was soaked so that it was completely matted. His ears folded against the side of his head while the poor cub cried with whimpers escaping his throat; "T-tails... Do y-you have a-any f-food?" he asked softly, his voice cracking like he hadn't spoken in a while.

After a second inspection, Tails found that Dawn's stomach was as thin as it could get. His clothing torn enough for a clear view. If Tails was out for six months, Dawn certainly hadn't been. Without Dusk or Dakuba alive, the question of how Dawn survived this long was beyond the golden vulpine.

Without hesitation, the fox picked Dawn up by the shoulders and gently guided him in, much to Dawn's astonishment; "You mean... You're actually helping me?" he asked softly, his onyx black eyes stained with tears.

"Of course. We may have been enemies before. But that can change right? Who said Shadow's had to be enemies with the original?" he asked, giving the small black fox a reason to smile weakly.

Meanwhile, Sonic was still at the door, holding the door open and letting the cold come in. An eyebrow raised in confusion; "Uhhh... Ok." He muttered to himself, unable to get what just happened. _"Wait a second, was that really Dawn?"_ the hedgehog wondered to himself as he followed, slamming the door with his foot to show off.

Amy and Cream gasped as one when laying eyes on the pair of vulpine, more so on Dawn of course. As soon as he came into sight, the pair of girls jumped off their chairs and helped guide the poor fox to a spare chair to sit on.

This was overwhelming the fox kit, who had no expected such a warm welcome from them. Though he smiled at them all at once and with a small amount of urging from Tails, reached over and took a piece of turkey happily.

Sonic and Tails sat back down, next to each other while Amy and Cream did the same. Turning to the stunned faces of the human's in the room.

Chuckling nervously after taking a few bites, Dawn blushed heavily; "Uh, Hi. I'm Dawn, a friend of Tails. I have been looking for him for a while... Though only found him now." He spoke softly, bowing his head slightly as he hoped they would believe his lie. Choosing not to speak, Tails merely nodded with a smile.

Chris, buying the lie completely, waved to him; "Hi Dawn, My name is Chris. If you didn't know, this is Amy, Cream, Sonic, Tanaka, Ella and my uncle Chuck. How did you get in such a bad shape? Did someone hurt you?" he asked in a concerned tone, getting worried that their new guest had been in a fight recently.

Looking up from the second piece of chicken, Dawn blinked in confusion before removing the turkey piece from his mouth and swallowing the piece already bitten off; "No, I just have nowhere to stay. Sleeping on the ground does that." He spoke, his voice coming back now since he had something passing through his throat.

Chuck waved his hand at the statement, a wide grin coming to his face; "Well Dawn, I'm sure you and Tails could share a room. We have more than enough room." He offered, not ready to deny this young kit a safe and warm place to rest his head.

"REALLY?! THANK YOU!" Dawn cried at the top of his lungs, throwing both hands into the air in celebration. Earning a few smiles all around. Even Tails was happy for him.

Though before much more could be said, the clock on the wall smiled ten times, bringing Tanaka forward; "It is time for bed. I suggest you all get some sleep for we start looking for the Chaos Emeralds at dawn." He instructed, ignoring the groans of protest from Amy and Cream, as well as Chris and Chuck.

Sonic ignored curfew anyway so he didn't care.

Tails hopped out of his chair and wandered over towards Dawn, who frowned at Ella taking most of the food away to be washed up; "Hey Dawn, I'll show you our room. Oh and by the way. I noticed." He said with a smirk, helping the fox off his seat since he was still a bit weak.

Walking by his side, Dawn got an equal smirk. Knowing full well what he meant; "Yeah, I know. Not sure how it got there, but looks like we are our own people now." He shrugged, though spoke quietly so no one but them could hear the conversation.

As they walked, shadows danced behind the kitsune's because of the light overhead.

Not one, but _two._

* * *

_No wonder I'm a bit sleepy, oversleeping makes you sleepy. But how does more sleep make you sleepy when you just had more than enough sleep to try and prevent being sleepy when you were first sleepy?_

_Ugh... Headache._

_Having Dawn around is going to be tough, since we are supposed to hate each other's guts. But all that's changed since he has his own shadow now, instead of sharing mine._

_I have Sonic and the others yet Dawn now has nothing but his memories._

_But..._

_He's one of us now._

_A Friend and Ally._

_He's family._

* * *

**Elise was removed from this story, new idea!**

**Edit Chapter. **


	2. Chapter 2 Destruction, Thy Name is Ruin

Disclaimer: I do not own the following: Sonic the hedgehog, Dragonball Z, Tekken Prince of Persia (the Dagger of time), Batman (the Shadowfox looks like the Bat-Mobil), Pokémon (Lugia's ocarina), He-Man, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City; (I will add more when the time comes.)

Claimer: Bakuda, Dakuba, Dawn, Aura, Tara, Karnak, Adam and 'The Universal Gods', Creculo the hedgefox and Twilight the hedgefox I own. Bakuda was a 'spur-of-the-moment' name a friend and I created for an online game in 1999. I used the name for every game/story character ever since. If you spot anything that may be discreetly connected to another Anime/book/TV show, ECT, it is purely coincidence and not intentional.

* * *

_There were reports of the Chaos Emerald in the Pacific Ocean._

_It's just like old times, searching for them again._

_Though with Dawn at our side, I'm sure it will be exciting._

_Tails' Diary Entry: Destruction, Thy Name is Ruin_

* * *

A loud knock came at the door of the vulpine's room, Sonic waiting impatiently at the door; "Come on Tails, we have to hurry before some treasure hunter gets the Chaos Emeralds!" he called through the door, though got no response. It was one in the afternoon and no one had heard a peep from either Tails or the new guy.

Getting impatient like he always did when he had to wait for more than five seconds, Sonic turned the door knob and walked in without invite, only to come across an odd sight. Tails was sitting cross legged on the left side of the room while Dawn sat as a mirrored image on the right. Neither of them moving except slight twitches.

Sonic looked at them both in confusion before walking over to Tails, trying to find any evidence that the kit was asleep, though he placed the act under mediation or something like that; "How can they do that? I wouldn't be able to sit still like this." He muttered before the twin tailed fox shot open his eyes and gasped for air.

Tails didn't happen to notice Sonic just yet though, since he was glaring at Dawn who had just opened his eyes also, though a lot calmer; "You cheated! You said not use a single Energy Disk!" he complained, though Daw just merely shrugged at the question.

"But I used two." Dawn told him with a smirk, getting a few chuckles from the blue hedgehog that alerted them both of his presence.

Sonic stuck out a hand and lifted Tails to his feet; "It's one in the afternoon. Have you two been doing this ever since you woke up?" he asked, lending a hand to the black fox, who took it gratefully. It was Dawn who spoke up.

"Yeah, we didn't want to break the house so we Image Trained instead." He explained, placing both hands behind his head to relax. Tails walked over but he didn't look as happy.

The twin tailed fox turned toward Sonic uncertainly; "I'm guessing someone found a Chaos Emerald? You don't come into other peoples rooms otherwise. You're the one that likes privacy." He reminded him, earning a shrug from the hedgehog.

Giving the fox a thumbs up though, he gained a cocky grin; "Of course! It's somewhere in the ocean, though there are reports it is above water. We got a call from Knuckles stating that he's already there and searching for it now. He also told us that the place is Soleana."

The black vulpine rose an eyebrow at the statement, who had most of the memories from when he and Tails were one; "Soleana? But that's from our world isn't it?" he asked, scratching the top of his head in confusion. It seemed highly unusual that there was a Soleana on Earth and on Mobius.

Tails was the one that came up with a reasonable explanation; "Chaos Control. It must have transported the entire continent as an island. Last time the Mystic Ruins came here, no one arrived with it. So it may be empty." He reasoned, it will be much easier for them to find it if there was no people in the way.

"You might be right about that Tails; we better get going to make sure that we get it first. There may be some scientist guys out there that are searching the place!" Sonic said in a rush, blasting out in a streak of crystal blue without another moment to spare.

The twin tailed golden fox smiled as he rushed out, memories coming back to him; "Heh, that's Sonic for you. Well, we can take the Tornado X; I haven't given it a test run in a long time." He suggested, running out the door after his friend with Dawn following close behind; "Dawn, you know the plane so you go get it fired up while I go get Amy, Cream and Chris. They'd want to come too." He offered, racing down the hallway while the black fox took off in the opposite direction towards the garage.

Amy yawned loudly on the couch; she had been up all night because she couldn't get any sleep. Cream was right next to her along with her Chao and was sleeping peacefully, still tired from the Chaos Control that had happened recently. They both must have been feeling the after effects of the Time/Space warp.

Tails raced past them, not bothering to ask them anymore since they would not even answer while this tired. But he saw Chris in the kitchen and smiled happily; "Hey Chris! We are heading off to Soleana to go after a Chaos Emerald. Want to come with us?" he asked quickly, gaining the teenagers attention immediately. Maybe too fast, since he almost chocked on his apple.

"Sure Tails! I'm ready when you are. This is just like when you first came here, Emerald Hunting never gets old." He remarked, discarding his apple and its remains entirely to take off toward the garage.

Running after him, Tails felt a familiar grin come to his face. He always felt at home in the air, though he had lost that feeling when he had learnt to fly of his own with his energy. The Airdance technique, the OpenSpace technique or the Flying technique, it all meant the same thing. Flying in the air with energy to hold you up.

He burst through the door to the garage to see his previous shadow helping the boy into the spare cockpit, bringing a larger smile to his face. Dawn had not been like the other Shadows he knew, he was almost like himself if not just slightly more like a warrior. He wasn't sure if he had the same IQ as him but the fox knew Dawn had more power. When it came to battle between the two, Tails mostly only won by using his mind.

Climbing into the cockpit himself, Tails turned to the black fox behind him and the young boy in the higher back seats; "Alright, we are going to have to follow Sonic to Soleana. He most likely knows where it is." He explained before turning back to the control, switching a few switches on before the garage door opened and leading out to the highway that was more specifically a highway modified with foldable trees.

Yet as soon as he was about to take off, a small thud came from atop the place, Sonic the hedgehog sitting causally on the top of the plane like he used to when they had first arrived here. This dashed away any thought that his friend knew the location so the fox merely placed on the GPS satellite tracking system; "Alright! On to Angel Island!" he cried out, the jet blowing out of the garage with the jet thrusters propelling them forward.

Sonic looked like he didn't even have to hold on but Chris and Dawn were stuck to the back of their seats, they would never get used to takeoff like Tails and Sonic were. It wasn't long before the X formation of the wings was made so they could enter 'X Hyper Speed' mode, launching into the air and starting their trip to The Continent of the Sun.

Soleana.

"I guess this is the place." Tails said through the intercom, looking down through the glass to see the deserted island that was now Soleana. He brought the plane down to the ground and parked it plainly in the middle of a street, thinking that no one would ever mind it since there was no one here.

Though there were a load of broken windows and flickering broken lights everywhere, the place was completely barren.

Chris opened up his section of the plane to have a look around, a wind whistling around the area; "The place is empty! Why are all the windows broken too? Was there a fight here or something?" he asked, getting out slowly as to not fall on his backside.

Their hedgehog friend riding in Coach flipped off the plane and landed on the streets, stretching his leg muscles for a moment before standing up with a large smile; "I'll check the place out up north near the mountains. Chris can come with me. Tails and Dawn? You go check out the city. I'll come find you if we find it and if you find it, shoot a beam of light into the air." He explained, taking the human by surprise and taking him bridal style, blasting off like a rocket towards to mountains nearby.

Sonic raised his friend to his feet near several stone steps leading to what looked like a castle secured by the mountain range; "Sorry about that but we have to move fast,. Soleana is a big place." He commented, finding his friend had completely frozen by his supersonic speeds.

"I'm okay, just give me a second. I noticed in a few places that there were signs there was a war going on here. Dropped guns, knives, even robot parts scattered everywhere at certain points. What could have happened? Eggman?" he asked, thinking back to the rotund doctor that they had defeated on occasion. Though he hasn't been seen in a good while. Though Bakuda did pronounce him dead, killed by his own creation.

The hedgehog shook his head before turning to the steps, his ears flicking up at sounds of voice in the air. Short and barely audible but they were there; "Looks like we can find out. Come on Chris!" he called, running up the stone steps to come to a platform overlooking a great chasm.

He would soon wish he had never come to that place at all.

Standing over an old, white robed man gargling nonsense, was a pitch black hedgehog. His skin and fur the shade of midnight. His pitch black eyes turned to look at the other hedgehog before him. It looked like he had the faintest sign of streaks on his quills, arms and legs though they were a very dark grey. There was no doubt of who this hedgehog was in Sonic's eyes.

"Shadow? I thought you were dead! Wait till Tails hears this, he will be ecstatic." The blur hedgehog said with a large smile growing, though the babbling man did worry him slightly. The purple Chaos Emerald in Shadow's left hand was as concerning as well.

The hedgehog placed the Emerald he had in his quills without saying a word, but as soon as he did so, he vanished into thin air with a flash of purple light. He reappeared behind Sonic with the hedgehog just noticing a moment before a fist was heading straight for his spinal cord.

Though a moment was all Sonic really needs. The hedgehog shot off like a gun, avoid ing the blow completely. Spinning around after getting to the other side of the short platform, Sonic frowned at what he expected to be a ally; "What do you think you're doing Shado-WOAH!" he yelled as he dashed off to the left and around the edge of the platform, a few explosions occurring behind him.

"Chris! Get out of here; I got a Faker going on!" he commanded, darting past the human in a blur with a black shade following him with equal speed.

Chris blinked a few times to get the dust they created out of his eyes, though looked to where the hedgehogs' were heading. By the looks of it, the Soleana castles old ruined grounds. Knowing Sonic could handle whatever that shadow was, he ran up the steps and found the old man, lying still on the floor.

Rushing up to him and rocking him gently, the boy came to a rough conclusion. The people of Soleana DID come to this planet, though they were now gone.

The destruction in the area.

The spots of intense battle all over the place...

The dead man before him...

_Shadow did it._

* * *

_Shadow is alive and killing for the Chaos Emeralds?_

_I can't believe it. I refuse to believe it._

* * *

**Hey guys.**

**Sorry for being so late but UNI and Work is getting hectic.**

**Also, I was wondering what you guys thought of Re-Writing and improving my first story, 'Rise of the Saiyan God'.**

**I can write a lot better now and besides, the 'Bakuda' in that one seems too overpowered. I have improved Bakuda since then.**

**Also, I want to place in there that JUST because my Penname and my OC share the same name, does NOT mean that it is instantly a Self-Insert. :(**

**Reveiw and tell me what you think.**


	3. Chapter 3 Extinguished Flame

Disclaimer: I do not own the following: Sonic the hedgehog or Dragonball Z. (I will add more when the time comes.)

Claimer: Bakuda, Dakuba, Dawn, Aura, Tara, Karnak, Adam and 'The Universal Gods', Creculo the hedgefox and Twilight the hedgefox I own. Bakuda was a 'spur-of-the-moment' name a friend and I created for an online game in 1999. I used the name for every game/story character ever since. If you spot anything that may be discreetly connected to another Anime/book/TV show, ECT, it is purely coincidence and not intentional.

Flex the Rabbit (Prisoner #66) (c) to Blank the Nobody

Freak the Weasel (c) to Bolt The Wolf

Beta-Read by Blank the Nobody

* * *

_There were reports of the Chaos Emerald in the Pacific Ocean._

_It's just like old times, searching for them again._

_Though with Dawn at our side, I'm sure it will be exciting._

_Tails' Diary Entry: Extinguished Flame_

* * *

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Are you even going to blink?"

A red fox was sitting on the opposite side of a simple small box room with metallic grates and what appeared to be an ocean on the outside. He had streaks of gold, crimson and white all over his body except his face, though they were in random spots. His clothing consisted of just a pair of black jeans, since he had lost his vest during a struggle with an old enemy just recently. His golden yellow eyes focused on one person, the person he was sharing the cell with.

He was talking to an old, almost middle aged looking rabbit with dark grey fur, a white muzzle, blue eyes and spiky black hair with three large spikes pointing forward and two smaller ones pointing back. He had long, straight, grey ears that point upwards and a fluffy grey puffball tail. His ears were very straight and they did not bend in the slightest. The rabbit wore a white straightjacket strapped together with brown leather straps, white pants, black shoes, and a brown leather muzzle over his nose and mouth. The muzzle still allowed him to speak though.

Getting annoyed, since he had asked many questions without an answer, the fox asked again; "Are you even going to tell me your name? You have sat there, motionless, for five hours now." He said with a slightly agitated tone, not at all a patient fox.

This time however, the rabbit looked up, returning the gaze. "You're a persistent man Pheonix. But I have told you, I am Prisoner #66." He spoke calmly, not a hint of emotion in his tone. His spirit had been broken a long time before this situation, so there was no sense of hope whatsoever in the rabbit's body.

"I mean your real name. If you won't tell me that. I'll call you Bunny. Maybe even Captus, the Latin word for 'Captive'." Phoenix spoke dully, getting bored of the conversation but at least it gave him something to do.

Prisoner #66 sighed, closing his eyes once more. "It doesn't matter what you call me. You must understand however; I am not 'Captive' in any way. I committed the most dreadful sin of any creature; I must pay for my crime. Live and die in a personal hell, then go to hell itself." He replied in a hollow tone, not at all disturbed at how depressing his little speech sounded. His ears then twitched to the side as he heard footsteps.

Pheonix jumped to his feet immediately after hearing the noise. "Freak." the fox spat, golden eyes narrowing at the sight of their visitor. A black weasel with streaks of grey and red through his fur in a random fashion was looking back with a wacky yet malicious smile. He wore a white trench-coat ending in points and rather normal everyday sneakers one could buy at any shoe store.

The weasel didn't seem to mind the name he was called, since it was in fact the name he went by. Just hearing the name just made him giggle inside though since he did like it.

"Oh hello there Pheonix. About time you woke up. Not too many injuries, either, my paralysis serum must have worn off quickly with your strong body. I must remind myself to test that later." He remarked, looking to the ceiling for a few moments, as if contemplating in his mind of a suitable experiment.

In a few moments however, he brought his head back down to remake eye contact. "Enough of that though, I have come to tell you both that you're going to be set free onto this world. But nothing is exactly free however.A new friend of mine will be hunting you down for one of my experiments. You two are the perfect candidates for this experiment. A Spirit Holder and a man with a broken soul, excellent."

For the first time since he had gotten there, Flex rose to his feet and stared at the weasel, his blank expression still on his face. "So, we are to be hunted and murdered, very well. But why us? What makes us 'excellent' for your studies?" he asked.

Freak looked obviously delighted that he had asked this, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Ah, yes. You see Flex; my experiment is a simple, yet also complex one. When my friend kills you, he will take your soul as a prize. I wish to know..."

"...How many souls a body can take."

* * *

Explosions rapidly flowed across the land like a raging torrent let loose by a strained dam.

One might have thought that it was some stunt by someone who had set off fireworks.

Except for the small fact that the fire was sent from the hand of a psychotic black hedgehog floating above the ground and chasing a cobalt spiky hedgehog with a surprisingly different view than someone else who would be in that position.

"Nyah, Nyah, Na-Na, Nyah!" the blue hog teased as he ran, pulling his right eyelid down and sticking his tongue out at his pursuer. Though it did nothing but aggravate and boost the efforts of the Shadow-Look-A-Like.

Looking ahead, Sonic saw a large mountain that reached into the skies, a perfect way to escape the Faker and get a good point of attack. If this guy had a Chaos Emerald on him, then he was the one who got rid of everyone on the island to get it. Enough reason to take him down!

Taking off in a dash, a trail of thick dust clouding the view from behind, he shot straight up the mountain his own way. Defying all the laws of gravity was not a real issue for him; it was common for him to jog around the country and sometimes his run around the world at this speed.

Tearing up the mountain slopes with ease, the sounds of explosions behind him were less frequent, but were still there. Becoming more distant as he pressed on, he met the halfway point in a matter of was then he felt a little notch that could have thrown him off entirely had he not been concentrating already. It was getting harder to run and soon he found himself slowing down, but for good reason.

The Shadow Duplicate floated near the mountain, in front of a heaping hole at its base. The million tons of rock were cascading towards him but he didn't care that much, the hedgehog he was shooting at had no way to run away from this. Ascending into the as if on a lift, he got a better look at Sonic to see how he was faring.

"What is he doing?" the Shadow Duplicate suddenly asked, his voice sounding like a mixture of an echo mixed with some beast scraping their claws across glass.

Sonic sprang forward on the other side of the mountain, forming a rotating blue ball with his entire body, light blue orbs spiralling from the world around him and drawing into his body, as if the very air was giving him power. Though in an instant, he stopped spinning and got into a racing position, hands on the ground and his backside up, feet ready to take off.

"Ready... GO!" he called to himself, shooting off like he was fired from a cannon. The mountain still falling, the tip of the mountain just passed the black hedgehog, just enough to see the blue force heading right for him. He thrust out his hands in reflex, catching Sonic in his spiked ball form, smoke billowing from contact.

The Shadow Duplicate grunted as he struggled to keep Sonic from ploughing through his body, tilting his hands upwards and creating a slight slope. Sonic shot off again in the new direction, just skinning the nose of The Fake Ultimate Life-form before shooting over his head.

But the blue hedgehog span continuously in his ball form, seemingly turning around in the air as if his quills parted the airway beneath around to face his opponent, the Shadow Duplicate found a gust of blue and white energy soaring towards him.

"Damn!" he cried out, echoing the words of the infamous Ultimate Life-form.

He curled one of his hands to the right and whipped it in a crescent motion, a radiant golden energy forming in the palm; "Chaos... Spear!" he bellowed, thrusting his hand out once more, yellow energy flying from his hands.

The two attacks collided, a golden spear and a light blue wave of energy pushing against each other to try and overtake the other. But both attacks faded in a blinding explosion of light, alerting a certain pair of foxes.

"You feel that Tails?" Dawn asked, looking off into the distance, standing right next to his lighter counterpart. Turning to face him, he saw the twin tailed fox nod; "It must be Sonic fighting the person who made all this mess. Let's go! He may need our help!" he cried, taking to the skies and leaving with Tails to the battle site.

The blue Hedgehog darted forward, closing the gap between him and his opponent in a few moments. Not having much time to react, the fake Shadow was slammed head on in the stomach, a full headbutt. Sailing to the ground, Sonic curled back into a ball and used the fake Shadow's body as a springboard, launching off safely while the ebony hedgehog crashed brutally into the ground with rubble flying in all directions.

But as Sonic landed, a black spiked ball shot out of the dust storm right toward him, Sonic retaliating with the same Spin Dash, finding that it was working quite well. In a mighty clash, the two unravelled and exchanged punches with each other. In the end though, they slammed their hands together as a result.

Sonic and the Faker's hands were locked in place, trying to push against each other and force the opponent down to their knees. The Fake Shadow smirked at his adversary, something he hadn't done all match. "You're stronger than I thought Sonic the Hedgehog, you have a sturdy body and surprisingly, strong spirit. I'm quite pleased about that. Why, you ask? You will know soon enough." The hedgehog chuckled, his entire body giving off a faint red aura, black lighting shards streaking off his fur and into the air around him.

Sonic's hands were stuck to the black hedgehogs, he couldn't even move his arms or legs at all! Gaining some control, he snarled; "Wh-who... Are you?" he asked angrily. Right before Sonic's vision went dark, all his energy feeling like it was being ripped from his body. As Sonic lost his last bits of consciousness, he heard him say this.

"Why... I'm you."

* * *

Tails landed on the ground right after his identical twin did, though he wished he hadn't. His eyes wide in shock, he came upon the sight of Sonic laying face first into the dirt, arms by his side and he wasn't moving.

Dawn and Tails ran to his side, rolling him over and checking for any signs that he was still alive. Luckily, he was breathing, but just barely. Tails bent down to the body of his best friend. "Sonic? Sonic! Can you hear me? It's Tails..." he spoke, though got no answer from him.

Dawn placed a hand on Tails' shoulder, a small smile on his lips. "He's alive, let's be thankful for that. But we should get him back, Chris called me with his communicator, said he was heading back to the plane. I'm ready to go too... this place is creeping me out. I'll hel-" he spoke; about to pick up Sonic's body but Tails stopped him.

"No Dawn, go see if Chris is okay. I'll take care of Sonic. You fly Chris home in the Tornado but I'll take Sonic directly to the Hospital. I owe him that... we both do. Our blood brothers may be gone... But Sonic is our brother too." He spoke slowly, picking up Sonic and shifting him over his shoulder beforegiving Dawn a wink and a thumbs up, trademark to the person he was holding.

Dawn smiled, returning the gesture; "Yeah, meet up with you later Tails!" He called, blasting off into the air again, straight to the Tornado X.

Tails looked at him go with a smile, his gaze turning to the horizon. He couldn't believe someone had defeated Sonic, he had once sheerly by luck and he had the advantage, but Sonic must have gotten stronger by then.

"Something is on the horizon... And I don't like it."

* * *

_I haven't gotten over Bakuda and Shadow's death and this is happening?_

_I have got to remain strong though._

_I owe that much to Sonic._

* * *

**Sorry for the wait.**

**I have almost no time at all to do this anymore with my Job and UNI studies. But I'll try when I can.**


	4. Chapter 4 New Plan, New Hope

Disclaimer: I do not own the following: Sonic the hedgehog, Dragonball Z, (I will add more when the time comes.)

Claimer: Bakuda, Dakuba, Dawn, Aura, Tara, Karnak, Adam and 'The Universal Gods', Creculo the hedgefox and Twilight the hedgefox I own. Bakuda was a 'spur-of-the-moment' name a friend and I created for an online game in 1999. I used the name for every game/story character ever since. If you spot anything that may be discreetly connected to another Anime/book/TV show, ECT, it is purely coincidence and not intentional.

Sorry it took so long, but I have been busy and more focusing my art of DA.

* * *

_Sonic is getting better, though he sounds a little odd._

_I've never seen him so relaxed after beating beaten._

_Tails' Diary Entry: New Plan, New Hope_

* * *

Taking Sonic to the Hospital was easy, getting to a private hospital room 'after' he arrived and everyone fawning over you in the meantime, is not.

"Excuse me please, no more autographs. I need to check to see if Sonic is okay!" Tails cried out, using that excuse for about the fiftieth time that day. He had been doing runs for his friend since the doctors didn't want Sonic running for food. He wasn't even supposed to have the chilidogs he was sent out for, yet he couldn't resist Sonic's plea and go out for them anyway.

Cradling the box of chilidogs and rushing towards the elevator at top speed, trying to get away from hoarding fans holding pens and paper, Tails now finally knew what it felt like to be Sonic. He wasn't ready to get used to it either.

Ducking into the elevator and jabbing the 'Up' button as fast as he could with a panicked expression, Tails found relief flood his being when the doors closed on the crazy fans and he was left in solitude with the box of hotdogs; "Whew! That was close. I should really be more careful when walking about. The glamour Bakuda gave me could be a good disguise... If the others didn't already know about it." He whined and put those thoughts aside as the elevator gave a loud 'ding!' and signalling that the trip up was over.

Tails stepped into the deserted corridor and made his way to the private room where he knew his friends might have already arrived, since Dawn probably spread the word already. True to his thoughts, a large scream of worry flew through the corridors.

"Sonic! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Amy! Now let go!"

Sighing in exhaustion, Tails opened up the door to find the pink hedgehog hugging the life out of the supposed patient, even though most doctors should give him a clean bill of health. As soon as Sonic got a small amount of rest, he was perfectly fine. Nothing at all seemed wrong with him. Struggling to pull off the pink hedgehog, Sonic just barely registered the golden fox; "Hey Tails!" he coughed through the strangle hold.

Sonic's secret plan apparently worked, since Amy was now clutching Tails' midriff tightly, causing the hotdogs to fall to the ground and splatter on the floor. Ignoring the cry of agony from Sonic and the distant mourning music heard from Sonic's heart at the fallen hotdogs, Amy hugged the life out of the fox; "Tails! Thanks for rescuing Sonic, I don't know what I'd do if he was gone!" she cried.

Luckily Tails' training had not given such a dramatic effect as it had on Sonic, though he did blush like he was turning into a raspberry. Glancing around the room, he noticed most of the crew was there. Cream, Cheese and Dawn were happily playing a game of UNO in the corner while the entire Thorndike family sat around the bedside. Chris was still shaken up by what he saw yet Chuck got up to rescue the young fox.

"Hello there, Tails. I hoped you'd come back soon, even if you're acting as a delivery boy." He spoke with humour in his tone, glancing at the spilt Chilidogs with Sonic over them, holding what seemed to be a dandelion. Amy let go of the fox soon enough, letting the fox speak.

"Yeah, sorry about th-" he started but was cut off by the door practically flying open and the perpetrator limping in slowly, a red liquid dripping from his already crimson red arm. Knuckles the Echidna groaned gently and he came in, looking like he had been put through a meat grinder.

Everyone in the room gasped at once, though it was of course Sonic that had gotten to the echidna first, stabilising him in case he would fall face first; "Wow Knuckles, what happened to you? And how did you get past security with those wounds?" he asked curiously, the Chilidogs driven from his mind.

Knuckles shook his head slightly, his locks draping alongside his head; "As Eggman once said, I pretended to be a bar of soap and gave them the slip. These injuries aren't anything I can't handle anyway. We have bigger problems. I assume you went to Solleana?" he asked quickly, getting right down to the point like usual.

Chris nodded to his question speaking up for the first time since he had arrived back from that island; "Yeah, we did. There were signs of battles but not a single person was there. Then, we found Sonic unconscious. Someone obviously doesn't want us snooping around."

"That's where you're wrong Chris. They do want us around, to destroy us." Knuckles spoke angrily, his eyes showing loathing and rage. Like he had witnessed someone take his Master Emerald.

"I found someone who may be responsible. A dark blue cat girl, she wore a white top made of silk and a set of baggy blue leggings. At first I thought it was that cat girl, Blaze or whoever her name was. I tried to talk to her since I realised she had a Chaos Emerald. Well… this is the result. She used moves I haven't seen since I watched an ancestor fight off an invader. But she did them perfectly, not so much as a scratch on her polished fighting style." The echidna retold, his rage settling down once more. He had both lost his battle, the Emerald and his pride all at once.

Sonic however was taking this rather well; "Wow Knuckles, you got beaten to the ground by a girl and she took the Emerald. What else is new?" he asked, but he was cut short by the sight of a person tailing in. A white bat with a torn skin-tight suit and a heart shaped item over her chest. A white sling held up her right arm and a few bandages supporting the left wing.

The bat girl scowled slightly, her wing stinging slightly as she walked; "What's new is that I didn't do it this time blue boy. I was with Knuckles the entire time, but she tossed me aside quicker than she did Knuckles. Said she had a score to settle with him, never knew this big red guy dumped her." Rogue cackled, even though she was hurt, she still was cracking the funnies at Knuckles.

"I NEVER EVEN KNEW HER!" the red echidna yelled at the top of his lungs at the bat, a vein on his forehead popping out.

Ignoring the outburst, Chris cut in once more; "But what was she doing there, the cat I mean." He asked.

Sonic turned to his friend and ignored the ranting of the two beside him as well like usual; "I'm not sure Chris. She may be in the same league as that Shadow fake that I fought. Hey, Knuckles? KNUCKLES!" he bellowed, trying to get over the argument taking place.

"Oh yeah, well you're a- What you say Sonic?" Knuckles asked suddenly, quite pleased about the ending since he had ran out of comebacks.

Sonic crossed his arms before speaking; "Did you happen to feel weak whenever the girl touched you, like your strength was being sucked away? And you too Rogue. I fought against a person who looked very much like Shadow except that his colour was a bit off, his eyes too. At one point in the battle, he grabbed me and suddenly, I felt like all my energy was sucked dry." He explained, waiting for their answer.

The red echidna crossed his arms as well, the way he usually did when he was thinking; "Now that you mention it… I did feel weak whenever we came in contact, but I regained some of my energy whenever we left each other for a while. If they share a common bond…" he muttered, trying to figure out the meaning behind this, but Chuck was the one to finish it.

"Energy thieves. It explains why they want the Chaos Emeralds, since they hold limitless energy. If we are to stop them, you have to escape with the Emeralds without touching their bodies." He proposed, though like always he didn't make much of a solution, only stating the problem.

Everyone went silent for a few moments, trying to figure out a suitable way to do that rather asking task. But the silence was broken by the small black fox playing UNO; "Well, why don't we just use Project ChaosRing?" Dawn asked off worldly, playing down a green 7; "Uno."

Tails' ears pricked up at the mention, his eyes wide; "Project ChaosRing? I suspected you and I were working on the same project but you really think it can work Dawn?"

"Certainly," Dawn replied before smiling; "I win!" he announced, playing down the last card he had, a blue 9.

Amy turned to the pair of foxes, a bewildered expression on her face; "Chaos Ring? I suppose this has something to do with the Chaos Emeralds?" she proposed, everyone else nodding in sequence.

Tails grinned madly, like the little scientist he was; "Well, Dawn and I shared a thought last night. What if we made another Chaos Emerald, much more powerful though? We could then use it to create an endless supply of energy without the Chaos Emeralds. Though, it would need an output with that much energy. So, we channel it through the Power Rings and not-so-dangerous levels to disperse it when not needed. Hence, Chaos Rings. If we created this Emerald and channelled it through, the resulting rings could have a large boost of energy to those who use them." He explained, trying to basically put in laymen's terms but it looked like he had failed badly.

The black, twin tailed fox sighed as he stood up; "In other words, we can create a machine to let anyone go into something like… a Semi-Super state. Like Giji-Super Saiyan, this will use more energy so you would need to act fast to get the job done." He explained.

Chuck smiled down at the pair of foxes, pleased that he had now 'two' little comrades in scientific research; "I see, this would help with the energy absorbing problem because they aren't stealing their energy, but the energy from the form which would vanish soon after anyway. Good work, though a small problem. How are you going to create a real Emerald?" he inquired, causing twin sweat drops to fall from the Kitsunes.

Tails started twiddling his thumbs, nervous about speaking this; "Uh… Well, that's a hard part. We can create Fake Emeralds for some energy to supply it and give the Emerald a kick-start but we need a lot of them. We can get on that right away. Only problem is… We need a really big Emerald to fit all the energy in. I can't believe I am saying this but Rogue? We need you to pull off the biggest heist of the century." Tails spoke nervously, earning gasps from around the room.

Rogue however smiled slyly, getting what he was saying; "Oh I see. To make this 'Super Emerald', you need the biggest Emerald Cut gemstone this planet has to offer. An emerald based from the Master Emerald was created recently. It was cut with precision, but it's huge. It would be as tall as you are kid. I'd need some muscle to help me carry it out in time." She spoke with a slight sultry in her voice, coiling her working arm up Knuckle's own, causing all the colour from the said echidna to flush.

Laughing at Knuckle's misfortune, they failed to notice that a doctor had just walked in, holding a clip board; "Mr. Hedgehog? I thought I should let you know there was a patient that just checked in. I thought to alert you because he seems to be from your world."

Sonics' ears jumped at the words, a smile spreading across his face; "Vector and the gang I suppose?" he asked, though the doctor shook his head slowly.

"I'm afraid not. It's a young fox like Tails here. He has cyan colored fur and is quite a bad condition. He's lucky to be alive in fact. His rib cage is cracked and a broken left leg. Though what I also came to tell you is that our equipment is useless around him. He radiates the same electromagnetic force field the Chaos Emeralds do, even after we took this from him." He explained, holding out a sparkling, light blue gemstone...

* * *

_Well, Sonic is up and running about again. As soon as he said his last farewells to the hotdog that is. But who is the new guy that the doctor insists that he was holding the Chaos Emerald?_

_Knuckles seemed rather tense, he should be used to Rouge's wiles by now..._

_Thank goodness she isn't doing it to me or Lily would skin my fur!_


	5. Chapter 5 Chaos In the Making

Disclaimer: I do not own the following: Sonic the hedgehog, Dragonball Z, (I will add more when the time comes.)

Claimer: Bakuda and the 'The Universal Gods/Godlings' I own. Bakuda was a 'spur-of-the-moment' name a friend and I created for an online game in 1999. I used the name for every game/story character ever since. If you spot anything that may be discreetly connected to another Anime/book/TV show, ECT, it is purely coincidence and not intentional.

Cyan (Savoir) to myself.

Freak the Weasel (c) to Bolt the wolf

* * *

_Knuckles and Rogue's little job is taking place today; I just hope Knuckles doesn't take the 'Breaking and Entering' thing all too literally._

_Dawn and I are busy at work and don't see much of the team except Chris and Chuck, I think Chris might be pretty good at mechanics one day._

_Tails' Diary Entry: Chaos in the Making_

* * *

"Dawn, you got the high powered Modulator hooked up to the Atomomizer yet? We need to get as many fake emeralds made as possible!" Tails called up from the ground, his back to the floor and his arms working a socket wrench into a cylinder filled with wires and electronic devices.

The black fox peered over his position high above Tails, on a rim hanging from suspenders and Tails' cylinders. His midnight black fur still visible enough to show the smudged oil marks on his face; "Almost, I just got a few bugs to work out. You know as well as I do that it will fail if the energy output disrupts. Still a problem with altitude too." he called back, a wide smile on his face when he went back, having the time of his life working with machines again and finally able to talk 'nerdy' to someone who could understand it.

Chris, who was setting down in some heavy equipment for them to use, brushed some sweat off his face; "Altitude? But isn't that a measurement of height? I thought you were talking about power?" he asked, clearly confused though quite interested. The twin foxes acted like they were still joined as one being and watching them spout 'nerd-speak' from their mouths sometimes were amusing to nauseating.

Tightening the last bolt, Tails skidded out from under the machine; "Well, the way we are making it is kind of like a fountain of energy Chris. You know that water is the source of life and you kind of saw what water mixed with chaos energy could do. Plus, Chao like fresh, clean water and a sample of chaos energy nearby, but not as powerful as a Chaos Emerald." he explained, wiping the oil marks from his face.

"You see, if we combine water with Chaos energy, we may be able to wash the emerald clean of any impurities first and then soak it completely in the Chaos infused water tank. That way, the water would act like a conductor for the energy to flow." he explained, though froze for a moment in hesitation, twiddling his thumbs together.

Chris tilted his head slightly in confusion again, his uncle walking up to them after hearing the conversation. The elder human spoke up; "But there is a problem, isn't there. If Emeralds could be created so easily, Eggman would have done it by now. The Sun and moon have something to do with it, don't they? I saw you staring at a picture of a sun before while you were working on this Tails, plus there are lunar patterns on your spreadsheet." he suspected, though Tails merely shook his head.

"No, it's not the moon that's the issue. You see, the Emeralds have huge amounts of energy. But it's energy from creation itself. In the world Sonic and I came from, there were legends of how the world was born from Chaos, a type of nothingness." he described.

Chuck nodded at that, his hand rising to his chin in thought; "I see. We have that legend too, though it's a Greek myth. I never really looked into it much more than that though because of such reason. So tell me Tails, what does this have to do with the Emeralds?" he asked.

Before Tails could answer, a voice from above rang out; "Everything."

Dawn dropped from his position and stepped up to the trio; "Chaos is every birth of energy itself. However, energy cannot be created again or destroyed, that's where the cycle broke and Chaos receded. Except in 8 objects." he started, waiting for the pair of them to get it.

"The Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald!" Chris exclaimed, getting what the fox was coming from; "Your saying that the Chaos Emeralds and Master emerald gain their energy from Chaos and once drained, they regain their energy from Chaos again, which creates its own energy?" he asked, trying to follow along with their history lesson.

Both kitsune's nodded at once, Tails the one speaking up again; "That's about right Chris. But the Chaos Emeralds can only hold so much energy at a time. Once fully taken, they need to get a kick-start before getting their energy restored again. The Master Emerald is always restoring its energy, though because of this the energy amount made it more fragile to breaking." he explained before continuing.

"Since both sets of Emeralds have an infinite backup supply of energy, they were used for centuries, no one really knowing how they were created. But like our theory on the Emeralds, we have based a theory on how to create one. To create an Emerald, you need to crystallise a part of Chaos itself. So, we take water infused with undiluted chaos energy, positive chaos energy that Sonic will use from the fake Emeralds and then negative energy from a set of negative fake Emeralds. We will keep them inside a secure area until the time is right to use them." he explicated, hoping they were keeping up.

Chris and chuck thought about it before nodding. Chris was interested in their hypothesis but still had some questions; "So, what's the problem?" he asked, dreading the answer if it came.

With a sigh, Tails folded his hands in front of him; "Chaos Control. The bending of space and time is needed. The negative and positive energy will fight each other and each will have an edge with the planet's turn. Just a slight adjustment in power but enough to tip the favour. Night brings more Negative Chaos energy while the Sun brings it's warmth to Positive energy. To make this work, we need to harmonise both energies perfectly. So we have either two options. We somehow make a controller filter for the energy from a high power source greater than the emeralds themselves or we find a way to get energy to this machine when the Moon and Sun is at highest power." he offered, a grim expression on his usually happy face.

From the look Chuck gave, he realised the problem too; "Option one is defiantly out for have no power source like that and option two has a flaw. We can't take energy from moonlight if the Moon is not out and vice versa with the Sun. Plus the maximum strength to fire a beam to strike the emerald would have to be 12:00 on the dot." he offered, with his finger up like he just had a brilliant idea, though it sunk as another point came to him.

"To do that, we need two machines to absorb and fire the beams on different sides of the planet and fire simultaneously. By the time it would reach the target, it would be diluted by the sun or moon being on this end. Even right during the middle, it wouldn't be completely Moon or Sun energy anymore. It would have changed towards Twilight." he prophesised with defeat, letting out a long sigh.

Chris clamped his head in his hands, crying out in distress; "Moons, Suns and Chaos. Owww... Headache..." he whined, rubbing his temple. A little too much to take in at once. Tails kicked a small spanner at his feet in frustration, thinking that his work to create a real emerald had finished before it had begun.

Dawn, however, looked at them all if they were crazy; "Or, you could just flood a transistor harnessing the emerald with negative and positive ki energy to stabilise the effect?" he asked rather dully, looking at all the 'scientists' in the room like they were idiots.

Chris had finally given up; "When you guys are ready to start speaking English again, come and get me will you?" he asked, walking quickly over to the metal elevator door out of Chucks laboratory.

The yellow fox turned to his new 'twin' with surprise; "You mean, you would use negative ki energy as a filter for the negative chaos energy? That could work, it would save a lot of time and effort, but it's just as risky. Both of those who use the filter will have their energy drained for a short period until they recuperate. Not only that, but both would have their energies in perfect sync with each other. Otherwise it will be a total failure." The young fox said while thinking about it, his eyes drifting up in thought before it clicked.

Dawn laughed openly when he saw his identical friend slap his forehead; "Now you get it. Us two. With both of us at the controls, that means that we can stay in sync. We can basically read each other's thoughts, so it may work. All there is now is to make it... and pray that stubborn echidna and nutty bat get's their end of the job done." he remarked while rolling his eyes.

Chuck could only stare at the kitsune's with a serious expression, closing his eyes as he then spoke; "Whether they get it done or not isn't the problem I am having. The issue with this plan is if the energy of the new Emerald is greater than both of you combined, then..."

Tails and Dawn looked at each other, their smiles dropping as they too realised it and spoke at once; "We will die."

Sonic the hedgehog was waiting outside the spare bedroom at the Thorndike mansion, his foot tapping excessively on the carpet in his impatience; _"he couldn't have been that hurt, not if what the doctors said was true." _he thought to himself, looking up to the roof in thought. They had carted the guy back here after convincing the doctors he was with them, but Sonic had confisticated the cyan emerald before the doctors could give it back to the fox.

The fox sounded like one of the guys that he and Knuckles had fought, an energy thief. Though the pup was quiet and didn't say a word as they left, though he did seem out of it by the time they brought him from the hospital and back here.

Running out of what little patience that the hedgehog had, he immediately banged on the door with his fist, creating a loud knock; "Open this door!" he demanded loudly, about to thwack it again before the door open abruptly, Sonic's fist a few inches away from slamming into the leg of none other than Tanaka.

The eyes of the butler glinted dangerous as he looked down to Sonic, clearly disapproved; "Sonic, please refrain from shouting in the halls. The guest is resting peacefully; he has not said a word since he has arrived. Though he is defiantly hungry. Ella has fed him his sixth bowl of her apple pie." The butler remarked in a calm manner, though still had the tone of an actual personality unlike some others Sonic had gotten to know.

Sonic nodded, walking past the butler and into the room, looking directly at the cyan fox. He wasn't wearing any shoes or gloves and his nails more a little more animalistic. He may have been on his own for a while; "Hey, how are you feeling? Tanaka said you haven't been speaking, what's up?" he asked in a calm manner, hopping onto the bed the fox was sitting on.

The small fox remained silent, his blue eyes looking away from him and to the side. He was looking a little better physically then when they had picked him up from the hospital, though hadn't got any information out of him yet. Sonic wasn't going to give up though; "Can I at least have your name?" he asked casually.

To his surprise, the fox turned his head to him, a small amount of tears in his eyes; "I-I can't remember. I can't remember anything. I'm sorry." he whispered. Sonic was a little shocked to see how easily he opened up now that he was alone with him, though more on the information he had heard. This threw things into a new perspective.

"Nothing? Well that's different. You don't need to be sorry; it's not your fault. While you're here though, you need a name. Let's see, I was never got at this sort of thing but I'll give it a try." he spoke before looking over the fox, clicking his fingers almost immediately; "I know, I'll call you Cyan. Your fun is that colour and it kind of suits you." he asked, watching the kid's eyes light up.

"It sounds cool! Cyan... I like it. Um... Sir? I seem to somehow know you. You're Sonic, it feels like we have met before. But I can't place where. I know it because of that light you got inside you, it's all glowy. I have seen it before." he remarked, pointing to Sonic's chest. The hedgehog placed a hand over his chest with a curious expression.

Sonic had an idea what he was talking about, it had been bothering him since he found out about the energy thieves; "Cyan, I think you're talking about my energy. There have been some energy thieves running about with Chaos Emeralds, though Tanaka carried you here and he didn't get drained away, so I don't think you're in their gang. Anyway, you might have something in common with them. You can see energy inside people, Chaos energy." he reasoned, on quite a roll and pleased about it, he wasn't this far along in thought as much as Tails or Dawn were. he usually thought on his feet.

"You see, I mostly have positive chaos energy to use the Chaos Emeralds when it is really needed. They help me protect the world from obese guys with robots." he laughed, leaning back to lay on the bed; "So that's the stuff you see, the positive energy. If you had the chance to see old Egghead, you'd puke at what he had." he said with a snicker.

Cyan laughed like a child at the explanation, feeling the hedgehog was just being light about the situation; "So I can see this 'chaos energy' in people." The fox started, trying to understand it himself; "And these energy thieves might have a clue who I am? That's good news. Thanks Sonic, when I woke up without knowing anything, my mind a total blank, I felt like no one would come for me. No one would come to my rescue." he said with a bashful smile, looking back up to him; "At the time, only holding this pretty blue rock gave me comfort." he stated, making Sonic's eyes grow wide.

"Blue rock? You mean the Chaos Emerald?" he asked, fishing something in his quills and pulling out the strange and powerful gemstone, tossing it to the cub. Cyan fumbled with it for a moment before taking it gently in his hands, a soft glow emanating from it.

The fox smiled happily as the warmth from the Chaos Emerald filled his being. Letting out a long sigh, the fox held the gemstone close, swinging his legs over the bed and sitting next to his new friend; "I don't know why but it always calms me whenever I am holding this." he said in a slight daze, tucking the Emerald into his tail where it would be safe. When he was done, he turned to the hedgehog again with raised hopes; "Hey Sonic, I got a favour to ask. I think there might be other clues out there to who I am and it would be pretty cool to see the world. Could you tell me what it's like?" he asked hopefully.

Sonic sat up again and then flipped off the bed, standing before the fox with an ever growing smile; "Why not just show you?" he asked, an excuse to get out was as good as any; "And where would you like to go?"

"Just around town I guess, though we can't go out of town and be back before dark." he reasoned, looking out to the already darkening sky.

Sonic shook his head, grabbing the foxes hand without a moment's warning; "One thing you gotta know about me, I'm a guy with a love for speed!" he stated before blasting out of the door in a blue blur, the fox literally flying behind him with a scream. Out the door and already onto the street, Sonic looked back to find the cub clinging to the hedgehog like a life raft, barely avoiding the dangerous spikes on his back.

"H-How can you run this fast?" he screamed in fear, though had to admit all the sights that he was seeing wiz by him was fascinating, as a little nauseating; "Where are we going?" he asked, thinking he wasn't going to get his first question answered.

Sonic flashed a thumbs up to the fox with his trademark smirk, turning to go straight to the desert area and beyond to the outside world; "Wherever the wind takes us, that's how I roll!"

"Oh Knuckles..." Rogue said in disappointment, shaking her head at the sight of the echidna in front of her. She was wearing her usual getup for heists, a pure black outfit that fit snug on her body, most of her head covered by the black fabric so it looked like she was trying to be a ninja, though the same heart shaped mark was implanted over the chest region.

Knuckles on the other hand wasn't wearing anything but his normal gloves and shoes, though he was covered from head to toe in mud and green leaves that would make him perfectly disguised inside a bush. But not inside a brightly lit museum with crystal tiles.

The previously red echidna crossed his arms, standing out in the street light one block away from the museum itself; "What! You told me to come in camouflage and this was the best I got!" he stated angrily, having been insulted for his work. He had to spend a lot of time on this, though probably should have thought on his soon-to-be surrounding area.

Ignoring the echidna for now, Rogue took a glance at the museum; "It's too late to change, this may be our only shot since they may ship out that beautiful jewel at any time. Did you bring what I asked?" she requested, watching the Echidna pull from his quills a small device that resembled a game machine claw one would see in an arcade box sporting rather dull prizes.

"Perfect. Old 'Eggy' will be sore he left this behind." The white bat spoke, taking the claw device; "A jewel snatcher. He used this on my Master Emerald several times so it should work." she gathered.

The words brought a red dash across the mud stricken face of the echidna; "YOUR emerald? The Master Emerald is mine, lay off bat girl!" he warned, his fists rising as if for a fight.

Rogue put on a fake offended look, doing a sort of twirl in her shoes; "All the worlds' gems belong to me, but enough of that Knuckles. Here is what you requested, those dumb shovel claws that guy Hawk had. Don't know why you left it to him, that guy lived in a downright dump, not a place for a lady like me. Now, let's get going Knuckles. You take the back door and I'll take the roof. I need a distraction when going in. Cause one for me will you?" she asked with a wink flying off to the roof before Knuckles could respond, his face glowing crimson.

"You're batty!" Knuckles yelled angrily, shaking his fist at her. He then started walking up towards the museum, placing the famed shovel claws to his hands, long metal claws used to extra attack and digging purposes; "Fine. I'll shut off the security, my way. Humph, me as a petty thief, the shame of it all." he muttered to himself in anger, sauntering his way towards the museum entrance.

The feminie bat rolled her eyes with a sigh of disapproval, spreading her black wings before lifting into the air, soaring towards the roof in a silent manner.

Coming to the side of the museum, the red Echidna watched Rogue soar over the top and onto the roof. Taking this as the time to act, Knuckles drew back his fist and cried out in a bellow, slamming his stone hard fists into the wall, making it crumble into a new doorway. Walking in without another sound, he stepped onto the tiles lining the floor.

"That emerald must be here somewhere. I can feel it." he spoke to himself, taking a stroll down the halls until he heard footsteps of running guards. Jumping onto the wall, he jumped off of it to land on the other side, lunging back and forth until he rose to the rafters, sticking the shovel claws into the ceiling. Human guards ran underneath of him without any notice. Knowing he'd have to remain under the radar for now, he looked down to his feet, pressing down the top steel section of his shoe with each foot individually.

Studs similar to football cleats shot out of Knuckles soles, but each one razor sharp and coated in a sticky substance. Flicking his feet up, they stuck into the roof and stayed there; "Hmm, the boots Chuck gave me work at least." he commented to himself before walking slowly along the ceiling.

Taking a glance downward, the echidna brushed his long dreadlocks out of the way to spot guards with flashlights walking down the corridors, missing him entirely; _"This is easy, raising too much attention here could make us overstay our welcome." _he thought to himself, continuing forward without looking. BLAM!

Running straight into a wall, the echidna growled, drawing back his fist to punch a hole right through it, though stopped just short of contact; "Wait, if I make sound then they will catch me. They are probably already on alert." he thought to himself, glancing down again to notice the door to the next room.

"Hmmm... Going on the ground is a risky idea because of the guards." the warrior spoke to himself, looking around his area; "Go it." He spoke quietly, dipping inside a supposed air vent.

Once inside, the red echidna crawled along the pathway set out for him. He was determined to get to that gemstone, his eyes burning as his memories brought him small flashbacks of his defeat. If the Chaos Emeralds were in danger then the Master Emerald was sure to be as well. As guardian, he would not fail!

With those thoughts burnt into his mind, he surged onwards with speed; a small glitter came from below distracting him for only a moment. A metal grating in the duct was shining through a clear view of the gemstone. It was huge, almost as big as the Master Emerald itself. Grinning, the red echidna opened the hatch and was about to drop down when he heard a voice.

"So, this is what they were thinking of using to defeat us? Nothing but a worthless rock. But still, it could be used to make an annoyance. We can't have that." A harsh voice echoed.

Drawing his attention to the figure speaking, Knuckles dropped down silently to observe him. It appeared to be a male hedgehog with volcanic red fur, his quills in an odd fashion. The back quills were sent criss-crossing over each other to form some sort of odd five pointed star. While two pointed around and spiked at the front like horns. He only wore the gloves and shoes like regular males of their kind, though the shoes and gloves were pure white, glowing slightly. They were pure energy.

Before Knuckles could even react, the glass window above them shattered, Rouge dropping down quickly and delivering a kick to his face. Stepping backwards with a grunt, the new hedgehog looked up at the female bat; "Who the hell are you? Ugh, no matter. I'll kill you anyway." He spat, his front quills rising slightly, the yellow eyes starting to glow.

"No one is taking away MY jewellery!" the bat warned, getting ready for a fight. Knuckles was about to jump into the fray, yet his feet were stuck to the ground.

The red hedgehog chuckle darkly, his head turning towards Knuckles' direction; "Stay there Knuckles. I don't want you involved just yet. Let me take the bat out first and then we can decide your fate." He scowled with delight.

Rouge frowned as she brought her guard up, though her eyes sparkled slightly. It was a ruse, a ruse to get information; "Who are you and where did you come from?" she asked spitefully, playing a good actor.

Turning back to his 'opponent', the hedgehog grinned; "My dear Rouge, you don't remember me? How you held me in your hands and told me how beautiful I looked? Don't you remember how you fondled me, kept me safe?" he asked, dripping with obvious sarcasm.

"What do you mean; I never even met you before." She yelled over, not wishing Knuckles to get the wrong idea. The only way she spoke like that was when... With a little gasp, she remembered where this odd feeling in her stomach came from.

Laughing loudly, the new hedgehog pointed a finger to her; "So you 'do' remember me, don't you? From the filthiest actions from scientists wishing for world domination, to petty thieves that wanted nothing but sparkle and coin to satisfy themselves while others hungered. From such actions with the Chaos Emeralds... We were reborn from Chaos itself!" the being bellowed, holding above his head a glittering red gemstone. Its light blossoming from inside, shining over the whole room.

"I am Erase, the spirit of the Crimson Emerald. With my might, I will destroy all!"

* * *

_Knuckles and Rouge better be careful, with a being made from whole Chaos Energy..._

_They might not be able to see another Emerald again!_

* * *

**Thank you all for being SOOOOOOOOOOOO-*Continues for a while*-OOOO patient with me. This University assignments and study curriculum is driving me up the wall as much as a rabid possum on a sugar high at night.**

**I am going to try to get on the bandwagon again; it's been a long time. I may be rusty. This may be filled with errors for as much as I know. Spellchecker is offline.**

***Arms are falling off due to rust***


End file.
